This invention relates to a mechanical plating process and apparatus therefor. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved mechanical plating process of the type in which a tenaciously adherent metallic coating is applied on a surface of an object by subjecting metal particles to mechanical energy in a liquid medium to flatten and cold weld the metal particles to the object surface to build up a continuous adherent metallic coating on the surface. Such mechanical plating processes are described in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 23,861; 2,689,808; 2,640,002; 3,023,127; 3,132,043; and 3,479,209, and in my co-pending application Ser. No. 948,230, filed Oct. 3, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,915, which are herein incorporated by reference, and elsewhere.
The present invention relates to a portable type apparatus for depositing a variety of metal coatings using mechanical energy on metal objects. The coatings laid down with the various types of apparatus to be hereinafter described are of very high quality. The coatings are metallurgically integrated and bonded, are ductile, stand up well to hammering and should in no way be compared with paints, spray coatings or the like.
The coatings of this invention are laid down using mechanical energy in which the tool is very portable permitting the coating of objects of all sorts in situ. This portable plater to deposit solid metal coatings usually by means of a hand held apparatus is, so far as I am aware, unique. In the entire history of metal coatings on steel and other substances there has never been a hand held tool that can lay down solid metallurgically integrated coatings of top quality and desired depth of coating in very short times all without the application of electricity or of molten metal.
The National Bureau of Standards reports that metallic corrosion in the United States amounts to about seventy billion dollars annually. This is equal to approximately 4% of the gross national product. The Bureau report concludes that a substantial portion of this is avoidable.
The capability of the portable plater to lay down, not a paint, but a true galvanized metallic coating of desired depth of coating that is smooth and attractive on both small and large surfaces in very short intervals, constitutes a unique totally new means for attacking the staggering cost of corrosion not only to Americans but around the world, especially in humid, tropical countries where corrosion of metal surfaces is greatly intensified.
My co-pending application Ser. No. 948,230 is primarily directed at the plating of large areas of moving steel which must be galvanized. Such areas would be plate, strip, sheet, pipe, wire, rebars, structural shapes and the like. This work is done with a multiplicity of plating elements usually used in pairs or in sets of four or five to a plating tool, a large number of such plating tools constituting a unit and a number of units creating the plating line. What this instant invention discloses is the use of just one element of this plating line, namely one plating tool which may consist of one or a number of plating elements, brushes or the like which can be hand held, is very portable, and which may be of a variety of types all of which will hereinafter be described.
In addition, my co-pending application is directed at the chemical procedures necessary to produce extremely high rates of plating reaching desired thickness of coat in very short times. This is accomplished, for example, by control of chemical varients such as pH of solution, flocculation and the like.
The processing techniques and materials disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 948,230 may be similar to those used with the present portable plater. I refer to such things as control of pH and flocculation and the use of lubricants to prevent seizing, galling, etc. The present invention is directed more explicitly to a variety of types of plating tool which can be used to practice the invention. In particular, the plating tool of the present invention is portable.